


choose your requiem

by Kyhariel



Series: a monument/your requiem/my throne [2]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Body Horror, Hanahaki Disease, Nobody dies this time!, Other, Unhappy Ending, it follows the taken king dlc, lets see, well except oryx
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-26 08:08:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15659199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyhariel/pseuds/Kyhariel
Summary: Leo thought that it was over, until they wake up spitting up flowers and with a new threat on the horizon.





	choose your requiem

**Author's Note:**

> here we go again! i still do whatever i want with the lore, but the mission progression should be right? im not sure, i last played the taken king some months ago

At 4:27 am, two things happened.  
Oryx’s, the Taken King, entered the sol system on his dreadnaught. It nestled itself in the rings of Saturn, not particularly trying to hide. There was no need to. He had arrived to take revenge on the lowly creature that dared to murder his son.  
The other thing that happened wasn’t basically a declaration of war. Leo, a warlock, woke up spitting out large, purple-blue flowers.  
They had last done so about twenty years ago, when a suicide squad of guardians went down into the hellmouth and did not come back.  
Well, the reason they had stopped coughing out flowers, more precisely, was because Toland the Shattered had been a part of that team and hadn’t come back.  
(Courtesy of his corpse rotting before Crota’s throne.)  
So, it might be understandable if they were worried.  
A tiny bit.

At 4:54 am, Dead Orbit’s long-range sensors picked up weird signals coming from Saturn.

At 4:59 am, five minutes later, an emergency meeting was called to discuss the signals, which were determined to be Hive in origin.

At 5:10, Leo arrived at the meeting, them being one of the last people specialized in hive knowledge. (They weren’t a scholar or anything. Toland had been a scholar.)  
They were still shook from coughing up flowers again.

At 5:11, Leo had determined two things: It could absolutely not be a coincidence that they woke up almost choking on flowers at approximately the same time a massive hive warship entered the sol system. They shuddered to think of the implications this had. (He could not be back. He could not be back.) Secondly, they were absolutely not going to tell anyone that they had been awake since the arrival time of the warship, worrying about coughing up flowers.

At 6:58, when the meeting finished, Cayde-6 approached Leo about how they really needed to do something about the whole situation, but they agreed that they needed to do it under the radar, because Zavala would never authorize any plans the two of them would come up with.

At 8:13, the sun already well risen on their part of the Earth, Queen Mara Sov of the Awoken died out in the cold rings of Saturn.

At 8:27 am, Cayde-6 and Leo agreed to set their plans in motion. First, Leo would go fetch a stealth drive Cayde had stashed away years ago and then Cayde would secure a suitable ship. (And, to be honest, the only suitable ship was Eris Morn’s, it reeked of hive, and Cayde would not ask her to lend it to him.)

Unfortunately, these plans were waylaid, as Leo was sent to the Mars moon Phobos. Highly unusual activity was being reported and with the new presence of Hive around Saturn, it was determined to not be a coincidence. So Leo was sent out in the hopes they could figure out what was going on the fastest.  
On the one hand, Leo liked that they had more to do since the resurgence of the Hive on Earth, not to mention the whole deal with Crota. On the other hand, especially the whole deal with Crota and Eris Morn had brought back feelings and thoughts they had buried really well for about two decades. Especially finding his journal.  
And now the next hive threat was on the horizon and Leo was spitting flowers. That couldn’t be a coincidence.

Phobos was not a battlefield. Phobos was a massacre.  
The Cabal were evacuating left and right, completely ignoring Leo.  
It was highly unusual, to say the least.  
And it did not get better from there on. On the moon, Leo encountered a small flying light, almost crackling with energy and they felt something rising in their throat.  
But they swallowed it down. They had a mission to complete.  
(And it couldn’t be him. It couldn’t. He was dead.)

After the debrief, which boiled down to: this is bad, we need to do something, Leo went to their quarters and finally took their armor off. They made themselves vomit, because they had learned early on that swallowing the flowers did not end well, and what else could it be.  
(It was indeed a flower. Surprise surprise.)  
The worse thing was, they were the exact same flowers there had been the last time.  
If Leo had fallen in love with someone else, by chance there wouldn’t be the same flowers.  
That was one of the constants of the disease.  
And yet. And yet they were coughing up chrysanthemums. Flowers for a dead man.  
But the absolute worst thing was, going by the rate the flowers were forming, it would not take long for them to take root again. 

Two days later, Leo had retrieved the stealth drive from the Cosmodrome (coughing up two more flowers in the process) and Holliday was already working on integrating it with Eris’ ship.  
Their plan was, honestly, a suicide plan. For Leonidas anyways. They would take the ship, hope the stealth drive would last long enough to get them to reach the dreadnaught (Cayde was quick in assuring every time this came up, that yes, it would last long enough) and that they then stayed alive long enough to disable or even destroy the weapon that had ripped the awoken armada apart.  
(They did not think about how they could already feel roots growing inside of them, bringing up blood with the flowers, threatening to tear apart their skin from the inside.)  
But it wasn’t like Leo hadn’t taken suicide missions before and come back from them.  
(Do not think about the hellmouth. Do not think about the hellmouth. Do not think about how you hoped that maybe, maybe he had survived like Eris had, against all odds, against his own actions. Do not think about how you had hoped to at least find his bond, so you could take it back to the city and properly mourn him. Do not think about how the only thing of his you found was a dead ghost, almost discarded and how you recognized that it was once Aria, his ghost. Do not think. Do not. Do not.)  
(The truth was, it did not matter to Leo that this was a suicide mission. They were already dying.)

An hour after Holliday finished the modifications to the ship, Leo set out. They did not think they would be coming back to the city. When they had picked their gear for the mission, a robe at the back of their closet fell into their view. They had, well not really stolen, but kinda stolen it years ago. It fit ill, but then again, it wasn’t made for them. It would do well enough and if they wouldn’t come back, they might as well wear it.  
But, given the state of the stealth drive and Eris’ ship, Leo hoped that they would reach the dreadnaught at all, currently.

They were only mildly surprised when the stealth drive gave out. It meant they had to set up a transmat zone after dealing with the weapon, if they wanted to leave the dreadnaught again.

They were even less surprised when the little light from Phobos greeted them.  
(Leo could almost feel the roots in their body growing. It couldn’t be.)  
It flew ahead when Leo got close enough and they followed, the ache the roots brought distant, but deep in their bones.  
The light led them right to the energy cores of the weapon.  
It even accompanied them up until they had set up a transmat zone, at which it blinked at Leo one last time and vanished. Up until that point, they had done their best to ignore the rising nausea.  
Leo had to muster up every ounce of self control they had not to rip off their helmet and vomit up the mass filling their body, since the dreadnaught did not have much in ways of an atmosphere. They were forced to wait for their own ship to arrive.  
But, once on it, they immediately ripped off their helmet and threw it somewhere into a corner, grabbing a bucket and vomiting up a flood of flowers, spit and blood.  
Given that the disease had taken root in their body already, they were not surprised at the blood coming up with the flowers already. But the sight of the purple-blue chrysanthemum blooms dappled with their shining blue awoken blood was still somewhat concerning.

They barely made it through the debrief.  
Granted, it was mostly yelling at Cayde and them for their incredibly reckless plan, but Leo was still considered an expert, and if they endorsed the plan, that still had to account for something, right?  
And they did accomplish the mission, so even more points in their favor.  
But, well, Leo might have finished the mission, but they weren’t sure how long their could keep this campaign up for.  
Without direct stimulus by the person the disease is focused on (the person one loved), it wouldn’t produce as many flowers, yes, but it would still progress.  
It would still, eventually, eat up their whole body and fill it with flowers just because they couldn’t say three little words.  
Also, there was whatever that little light was doing to them, that was also affecting the disease.  
During the debrief, they felt another flower coming up and wanted nothing but to spit it out, but they really did not want to explain to the vanguard what was going on.  
They counted every second until the debrief was finished.  
When they finally, finally were released, they rushed back into their room without saying a word.  
More flowers landed in their trashcan.

The war against Oryx did not get any easier.  
Leo was sent out again and again and dthe little light wouldn’t leave them alone when they were on the Dreadnaught.  
Which meant coughing up more flowers than strictly necessary on these missions.  
The roots had begun to break the skin on their shoulders. They laid flush with the skin, the only reason they could keep pretending to be okay.  
These roots were the true cause of the death this disease brought.  
They fed on the light of the infected guardian and slowly ate it up until there was nothing left but roots and flowers and a hollow shell of a guardian.  
It was just more poetic to say that a guardian had died choked on their unsaid feelings.  
(Not necessarily less cruel, though.)

The plan to steal Crota’s soul was, kindly put, idiotic. It might just work, though.  
(Don’t think about what Toland would say. Don’t think about what Toland would say.)  
Of course, the stealth codes they had stolen from Rasputin failed. They thought that an incredibly powerful AI with decades of time would manage to develop stealth that actually worked.  
So, they ended up running for their life. While trying not to choke on the flowers in their body and while doing their best to ignore the roots that were ripping at their muscles with every move.  
A miracle saved Leonidas. Well, the miracle was named Eris Morn and she used hive arcana learned from Toland (don’t think about him), but it was the thought that counted.  
Back in the real world, the real hellmouth, Leo let themselves sink against a wall, trying to catch their breath. But they weren’t really successful, as their breath caught on the flowers in their lungs.  
They knew they had to get up to the surface for extraction, but currently even getting up was a herculean task.  
How were they going to survive killing Oryx?

The answer was, as with an appropriate lot of things, performance enhancing drugs.  
They weren’t, strictly speaking, legal. Nor did a lot of guardians use them, given what your ordinary guardian was already capable of.  
They had been developed, once, for the crucible, but Shaxx had promised punishments quickly after they started being used. (Under the table though, these threats worked just as well as those for anyone caught using a red ghost.)  
Still, you couldn’t get them without the proper contacts, but a handful of the dealers Toland had gotten less legal stimulants from were still around.  
So, they spent the entirety of the mission to murder Oryx in the real world high as a kite.  
Not feeling anything in their throat or their lungs and especially not feeling the roots in their body spread as they followed the light to Oryx’ throne room.  
Killing the Taken King was easier than Leo had thought.  
But everything seemed easier right now. They barely felt any pain.  
Back in the tower, Leonidas collapsed on their bed and slept the drugs off for about thirty hours before moving again.

The thing was, Leo needed to go and kill Oryx for good in his ascendant realm.  
They would have a raid team at their back, but it still was an incredibly impossible task.  
Only made worse by the roots that had started to climb up their jaw.  
When they got back to the dreadnaught, the light was guaranteed to be waiting for them, and do whatever it did, which then resulted in the disease getting worse.  
(Because it couldn’t be that the light was the only known way the disease could be made worse. He was dead. He had died in the hellmouth. He was dead and their resurgence of the disease was some sort of hive magic that Oryx had brought with him.)  
Of course, Oryx needed to die, to truly die, so Leo had no choice.  
Even if they would very likely die trying.  
But really, was that so bad?

Against all odds, they, Leo and their team, made it to Oryx’ throne in his ascendant realm.  
At the end of the hall, the little white light was hovering.  
Leo considered all the facts for the last time. If, if this was truly what Toland had become, then they might as well take this chance.  
It was probably their last one.  
They took off their helmet. Their team tried to stop them, but this was not a world that operated on normal rules. They would not be killed by something as simple as lack of oxygen.  
The roots in their face had spread a little further up their cheek, but their team could not see that, as Leo was facing away from them.  
They took a few steps towards the light, their helmet dangling from their hand.  
Then, they looked up at the light and asked: “So? Is it really you, Toland?”  
Leo ignored the whispering that broke out behind their back at the mention of his name, as the light reacted to it too.  
It grew and grew and turned swamp-green and took a humanoid shape and dimmed somewhat, turning almost translucent.  
The end result was a specter of a guardian, green, softly glowing, translucent.  
It was a warlock, the long robe unmistakable, the infamous ram skull on the helmet unique.  
It gave the appearance of stepping closer, but it was floating just a bit above the ground.  
“Who else could it be, dearest Leonidas? I did not think you would follow my steps so closely after my exile, little warlock.”, the specter said.  
And it did sound like him. It did sound like Toland.  
The memory of his voice was fresher in their mind than it had any right to be, after they found the journals scattered across the solar system.  
“Not like I had much of a choice.” Leo scoffed. “Why have you been helping me, old man?”  
Toland cocked his head slightly, and replied: “You looked like you needed it.”, sounding slightly amused.  
Leo almost reached up to the roots growing into their face, but stopped themselves at the last moment. No need to drop hints now, after all. Toland might still be around, but he was very much dead, still.  
Even without seeing his face, Leo could’ve sworn that he smiled.  
“Then help me, us, some more.”, Leo demanded.  
The Toland-specter stroked the part of his helmet where his chin would be and took quite some time before giving an answer.  
“You were not supposed to touch the light,” he began. “How did you even recognize it for what it was? But it matters little now. Take it. Make it yours. Use it against Oryx and make your final argument against his existence.”  
Leo nodded. “Thank you, To.”, they said to him before putting their helmet back on and turning around to face their team.  
Behind them, Toland vanished into thin air.  
Leo directed their team around the hall, giving them positions to occupy.  
Once everyone was as ready as they could be, Leo stepped forward, striding to the end of the great hall, where Toland had been and challenged Oryx one last time.

The fight was hard, harder than the one against Crota, harder than any fight Leo had been a part of, but that was not much of a surprise, given how much more powerful Oryx was.  
But, they prevailed, with Leonidas delivering the final blow to him.  
Oryx, in death, looked like he calcified and fell away from his throne.  
(Leo, of course, knew what really had happened. Oryx’ worm ate him up until he was nothing but a husk. Leo wondered if they would look similar, in their end.)  
Their job done, Leo and their team turned to leave the way they came, but, behind them, Toland appeared again and accused: “Why are you leaving! It’s not right! You fools! You disastrous, bumbling squanderers! You have toppled Oryx and not replaced him!”  
This tirade made Leo turn around again and face Toland.  
They said, slowly and enunciating every word: “I am not a god, Toland.”  
Toland practically seethed as he replied: “But you could have been, Leo! You could have been the monarch of the deep! There needs to be a strongest one! It’s in the architecture of these spaces!”  
“Then, “, Leo said, looking directly into the empty eye sockets of his helmet, “be the strongest one, To. If anyone can do it, it’s you.”  
But Toland spat out: “You already have proven yourself to be the strongest by killing Crota! By killing Oryx! Take your new shape!”  
But Leo shook their head. “Sorry, old man, no can do.”, Leo said, turned around and walked out of the hall with their team, leaving a flabbergasted Toland behind.

Back on earth, in the tower, before the debrief (the last one Leo would ever have, if the request they planned on filing would be approved), Leo vomited up the swell of flowers they had swallowed down during the confrontation with Toland.  
They had not, had never, wanted to oppose him so openly (they hadn’t even during his trial – how could they have? They never really knew, now, did they), but given what he had wanted, that he had wanted Leo to embrace becoming the Taken King? They couldn’t agree with him.  
Not when Leo had so desperately opposed Oryx, even with their body, their light clawing itself apart.

The following day, Leonidas returned to the vanguard hall in civilian clothing, wearing a surgical mask to hide the roots that had spread up to their cheekbones.  
Ikora still smiled at them, Cayde was basically beaming with joy and even Zavala nodded at their entry with approval.  
Leo steeled themselves for the request they were about to make and gestured for their ghost to transmit the document they had prepared to Ikora’s data pad.  
“Leonidas, what is this?”, she asked, looking up at Leo, after reading it.  
“My request to be shifted to passive duty. I can still serve as a scholar, but I do not think I can complete another mission.”, Leo explained.  
Zavala knitted his brows, but did not say anything, as it was not his place, given that Leo was a warlock.  
Cayde, however, was not as respected and came over to Leo, asking: “Leo? What’s wrong?”  
Ikora read the request again in the meantime and then also turned to Leo, “You do not mention an exact reason.”  
“Yeah, I thought it best to show you myself.”, Leo said and pulled down the mask, revealing the roots set in their face.  
Ikora’s eyes widened, but otherwise she had too much control of herself to show much of a reaction.  
Zavala, likewise barely let his shock show.  
Cayde, on the other hand, gasped and reached up to put his hand on Leo’s face, hovering just above it before thinking better on it and taking his hand back down.  
And then he said to them: “Is it me? I promise you can tell me if it’s me.”  
Leo chuckled and shook their head.  
“I don’t want to say who it is, to be honest. If you really need to know, I will tell you, but I respectfully ask that you do not.”, Leo said.  
The vanguard was quiet.  
Zavala was the first to speak up, “You have done a great deal for this this city and it’s inhabitants. You have achieved many feats that seemed impossible.”, at that, Zavala gave Cayde a pointed look, who interjected: “It worked!”  
Zavala, unperturbed, continued: “It would be the least we can do.”  
Ikora and Cayde nodded their approval.  
“Thank you.”, Leo said, bowing their head and leaving the hall.

Cayde-6 found Leo later that evening, in a seedy bar down in the city, where nobody would look twice at their face.  
He took the empty seat next to Leo without saying nor asking anything to them and ordered himself a drink.  
They both nursed their respective drinks in silence for a bit.  
In the end, Cayde broke the silence.  
“How long?”, he asked and knocked the rest of his drink back, immediately gesturing for a new one.  
“About a year, I think. Maybe two.”, Leo answered and also emptied their drink.  
“Well, shit.”, Cayde said. “Who is it?”  
“Same old. He’s on the dreadnaught.”, Leo answered, staring down into their glass.  
Cayde nodded. They went back to drinking in silence.  
Tomorrow, Leo would be put the work as the resident tower expert on the Hive. Cayde would continue being the hunter vanguard, a position he’d gotten through the death of the man he’d loved.  
Today, they were both mourning.

**Author's Note:**

> any lore inaccuracies are absolutely intended.  
> i know there are different theories for what the little light is, but let me have this, yeah?


End file.
